Wireless networks and systems are becoming increasingly popular. But wireless communications are constrained due to a lack of available, interference free spectrum that may be used for reliable communications within a geographic area.
In the U.S., some spectrum may be used without a license, but regulations on the spectrum may be imposed. For example, analog television (TV) broadcasts have been eliminated in favor of digital TV broadcasts. This frees spectrum channels for use by unlicensed radio systems to offer various services, such as mobile communications and Internet access. The available spectrum is commonly referred to as TV whitespace. In the case of TV whitespace, the whitespace is comprised of unused TV channels between channel 2 and channel 51 (corresponding to 54 MHz to 698 MHz).
To avoid interference with digital TV broadcasts and other incumbent systems, such as wireless microphone systems, wireless radio devices in a regulatory domain that use the TV whitespace will be required to request and receive a channel map of available channels that may be used for the communications activity of the wireless radio system. Also, for portable or mobile wireless radio devices, if the wireless radio device moves into a new location in a regulatory domain, request of a channel map of available channels that may be used for the new location is required. Additional information regarding the regulation of TV whitespace may be found in FCC 08-260, Second Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order, Adopted Nov. 4, 2008 and Released Nov. 14, 2008, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Similar proposals have been made in places other than the United States. For example, Ofcom in the United Kingdom has described access to certain spectrum by cognitive radios in “Digital Dividend: Cognitive—Access Consultation on License-Exempting Cognitive Devices Using Interleaved Spectrum,” published Feb. 16, 2009.
Due much in part to the lack of available, interference free spectrum and the various regulations imposed on wireless radio devices, radio devices used for wireless network communication are generally only permitted to operate in those regulatory domains (e.g., countries or regions) that have granted certification. Accordingly, it is commonplace for manufacturers to configure the device's operating country code before the device is shipped to the customer (e.g., distributor, retailer, consumer, end-user) to ensure that the device operates within the rules set within the regulatory domain where the device will operate. But it is very difficult to manage the configuration of country codes on network devices.
Manufacturers or distributors that ship radio devices to multiple countries may be faced with a major issue when devices that have already been preconfigured for a specific regulatory domain (associated with a particular country code) are reassigned for delivery to a different regulatory domain (associated with a different country code), especially if the devices have already been packaged. This reconfiguration process is costly, time consuming, and prone to error. In some cases, the manufacturer may even need to unpack devices that have already been packed and sealed for shipping, just to change the country code on the devices. The manufacturers or distributors also usually keep separate spare inventories of devices used to replace devices that malfunction. The manufacturer or distributor is forced to have an inventory for each regulatory domain due to the fact that the devices are configured with a fixed country code.
One possible solution is to allow the customer to choose the country code of the device. But a number of regulatory domains will not permit the importation of radio devices that allow for post-import configuration (i.e. by the customer). When a device can be configured by the customer, there is no method to ensure that the country code is properly chosen. Hence, the manufacturers often must prove that the country code is fixed and cannot be changed by the customer.
The inability of the customer to configure the country code further presents issues for individual wireless radio devices that are to be used in multiple regulatory domains. For example, a wireless radio device configured to operate in a first country associated with one regulatory domain that is taken to a second country associated with a different regulatory domain may not be easily reconfigured to operate in accordance with the regulations imposed on wireless radio devices in the second country.